We did it ! 975 miles….

Oh my goodness, day 14 was the toughest day yet…and we thought Scotland was hilly ! I don’t think Cornwall has a flat road. Most of the day was just a lovely quick downhill, quickly followed by a long drag uphill. I lost count of the hills we went up, dreading each downhill as you just knew what was coming round the corner. Stopped for lunch at the world’s worst pub, wouldn’t even let us eat our sandwiches inside the pub. Finally made it to Truro after several signs that all said it was 3 miles, and then, yep, you guessed it a monster of a hill out of Truro followed by a 2 mile slow drag. Never have we been so pleased to see the camp site sign! 64 miles, and 1600 meters of hills. Roll on last day tomorrow !!! Not sure our legs can take much more!

Shortest day but one mileage-wise…just a snip at a mere 38 miles. Having checked the forecast (and by looking out of the window at how windy it was) and taking into consideration how exposed Dartmoor is, we decided on plan b for the route today. Instead of going straight over Dartmoor we would go around the edge. Good decision in the end as having driven over Dartmoor later in the day there were at least 6 or 7 places where the road was 20% and even 25% in one place. Still the “easier” route was still very tough, lots and lots of hills barely a flat bit of road in sight and a lovely headwind to boot. Tough going…We stopped for a hot drink at a Little Chef just outside Tavistock for half an hour and then carried on. It seemed finally that we had the wind almost behind us, although it doesn’t make much difference when you’re in granny gear going uphill! Stopped for some pictures at the top and then started the last 3.5 miles. A most amazing last few miles…a lovely downhill where we nearly touched 40 mph, and then a flat section where we did 32mph, amazing how much of an effect the wind can make! Spent the afternoon driving around Dartmoor around Princetown, Two Bridges and took pictures by River Dart. Nice pub meal to end the day, only 100 miles to go !!!

Shortest day but one mileage-wise…just a snip at a mere 38 miles. Having checked the forecast (and by looking out of the window at how windy it was) and taking into consideration how exposed Dartmoor is, we decided on plan b for the route today. Instead of going straight over Dartmoor we would go around the edge. Good decision in the end as having driven over Dartmoor later in the day there were at least 6 or 7 places where the road was 20% and even 25% in one place. Still the “easier” route was still very tough, lots and lots of hills barely a flat bit of road in sight and a lovely headwind to boot. Tough going…We stopped for a hot drink at a Little Chef just outside Tavistock for half an hour and then carried on. It seemed finally that we had the wind almost behind us, although it doesn’t make much difference when you’re in granny gear going uphill! Stopped for some pictures at the top and then started the last 3.5 miles. A most amazing last few miles…a lovely downhill where we nearly touched 40 mph, and then a flat section where we did 32mph, amazing how much of an effect the wind can make! Spent the afternoon driving around Dartmoor around Princetown, Two Bridges and took pictures by River Dart. Nice pub meal to end the day, only 100 miles to go !!!

Another tough day today after 87 miles yesterday. Started off lovely and sunny but within 10 minutes had gone dull with a bit of a wind starting to develop. Wind got stronger during the day, we had a couple of minor showers but the hills, they just kept coming and coming, 1340 metres in all the most we have done so far.  Managed to keep off the main roads for most of the day, using the sat nav well to keep on the quieter side roads. Stopped at a garden centre with a tea room for tea and cake. The lovely lady there wouldn’t take any money for it after we told her what we were doing. We were also given some sponsorship money by a lady in a tea shop in some woods somewhere who was also going ti be doing a charity walk. Both very kind gestures, unexpected, but just proves what kind people there are. Eventually made it to caravan park in Newton st Eyres, 68 miles done. Now in Devon and only one county to go ! Total is now 834 miles…

This was always planned to be our longest day simply due to the location of campsites. So getting out of sleeping bag today knowing what lay ahead was quite difficult. We set off about 8.30 with some ominous looking clouds but these turned out to be nothing, in fact it got warmer as the day wore on. Stopped for a bite to eat outside a pub in Monmouth, so without realising we’d made it into Wales! Lovely up and down roads with some vicious hills. Found our way through chepstow and onto the old severn bridge which has a cycle path. Fantastic views, although strangely very little traffic. We then got horribly lost around Clifton and Bristol and probably lost about 45 minutes trying to find signposts for the west country. Used good old Google maps on Mobile phone to work out a route and then we were away again. Last 15 miles on busy A38 went on forever, not helped by having the wind in our faces. Finally made it to winsome caravan park after 5 and a half hours and nearly 87 miles. Great to see my mum and dad sat outside the caravan when we arrived, and in glorious sunshine ! Great to make it into Somerset, only 2 counties left to go 🙂